Mormons are Bible-believing Christians

We have created this website to help dispel the misconceptions about Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and their use of and regard for the Holy Bible.

Firstly, some people erroneously think that Mormons don’t use the Bible at all.  This is false. Mormons revere and study the Bible as the word of God revealed through His ancient prophets.  In English-speaking countries, the King James Version is most often used.  The Church has published a King James Version for the use of its members.  Nothing has been changed from the original.

Footnotes and cross-references have been added, so that members can see the relationship of other church scriptures with what they are reading in the Bible.  There is also a Bible Dictionary, a Topical Guide, Maps, sometimes photographs (depending on the size and style of the Bible you purchase), a Gazetteer, and at the back, some of the scriptural verses that were re-translated by Joseph Smith (the first prophet of the Church).  Below left is a page from a King James Version bible published by the Church.  You can compare it with your own King James, and you can see how the verses are cross-referenced.

Mormons spend three hours worshiping on Sundays, and one of those three hours (Sunday School) is devoted to studying the scriptures.  There is a repeating four-year course of study — one year of Old Testament, one year of New Testament, one year of Book of Mormon study, and one year of Doctrine and Covenants/ Church History.  The Pearl of Great Price, another book of Mormon scripture, is brief and mostly covers the creation, so it’s read along with the Old Testament.  Thus, two out of four years of scripture study are spent on the Bible.

Another misconception is that Mormons have replaced the Bible with the Book of Mormon, which some friends of other faiths have nicknamed “the Mormon Bible.”  This is also untrue.  The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is a separate book and validates and upholds the Bible.  On this website, we’ll show you how that works by including lessons from the Bible and then telling you what the Book of Mormon has to say about them.

Some people think that Mormons ignore or refute whole sections of the Bible, because we only believe in the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly.”  This is also untrue.  Mormon prophets and religious scholars have put forth much effort to understand the original intent and message of every Bible passage, even though sections are missing or have been added to through the centuries.  Latter-day Saint scholars have gone back to the original texts.  In the viewable page above, you’ll see an explanation of the meaning in Greek for one verse.

In truth, Mormons possibly accept more of the Bible than any other Bible-oriented faith.  Some Christians ignore the Old Testament; others see James, and other books which emphasize works, as having temporal rather than spiritual import.  In some cases there is only mere mention in the Bible of doctrines well-known in the ancient church.  For instance, Paul talks about baptism for the dead in only one verse of the New Testament.  It takes revelation through prophets and research of ancient church practices to fill out his message.  Other Christian churches ignore Paul’s comment, because their doctrines don’t deal with the concept.

Paul also mentions Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial bodies.  A vision of the kingdoms of heaven found in the Doctrine and Covenants fully explains Paul’s reference in detail, so that there can be no misunderstanding that Paul was speaking of heaven and its levels.  There are many mentions in the New Testament of a continuing priesthood and groups of New Testament followers who held that priesthood (Aaronic and Melchizedek).  However, that knowledge has been lost to most Christian sects.  Instead of acknowledging that Mormons understand these biblical precepts as Christ’s apostles understood them, other Christian sects accuse Mormons of “believing in another Christ,” or in preaching false doctrine.  The Book of Mormon clarifies these and other precepts found in the Bible.  Instead of acknowledging this, other Christian sects say that the Book of Mormon refutes, denies, or opposes the Bible.  The opposite is true.  The Book of Mormon upholds true, ancient doctrines, preached by Christ and His apostles; it therefore opposes false doctrines and assumptions about the Bible that are rife in other Christian denominations.

Some people think that Mormons have sinned by adding to the Bible, because of the instruction given in the Book of Revelation that the scriptures cannot be added to.  This is an incorrect idea.  For an explanation, click here.

Here’s what you’ll find on this site.

• Bible lessons with insights from other Mormon scriptures and modern prophets
• Articles about various Bible subjects
• General articles about Mormon beliefs
• How the Book of Mormon and Bible together answer life’s most perplexing questions

*BYU Hosts Conference on the 400 year anniversary of the King James Bible.

*Oxford University and Latter-day Saints Join for KJV Symposium

*Jewish Scholars Correct Mistakes in the Old Testament.